Fishing for salmon and other spawning fish by snagging the salmon with a weighted hook as they swim to their spawning grounds has become quite common, particularly in the Great Lakes region where salmon are seasonally planted in the lakes. The salmon die after spawning and usually come to their spawning grounds in great numbers, so may readily be snagged with a barbed hook. The hook, however, must conform to state regulations. As for example, in Wisconsin, the exposure from the tip of the hook to the stem or shank cannot be more than 1/2 inch. In Illinois, the spacing from the tip of the hook to the stem or shank must be 1/2 inch or more. It has thus become desirable to have interchangeable hooks and weights providing the required spacing between the tip of the hook and stem of the hook, which will conform to the laws of the state in which the fishing is carried out. It is, of course, understood that in snag-fishing, the hook is cast into the water to snag a salmon or other fish swimming to the spawning grounds, which may be up-stream from a lake or other body of water, and the hook, therefore, usually has more than one barbed tine to assure the snagging of the fish when hit by the weight and hook or when the hook may be drawn along the fish and make contact therewith.
The present invention improves upon the prior art snag-hooks in that the hook may be interchangeably mounted on weights of different lengths and weights and may be removed from its weight without damage either to the hook or weight.
Other advantages of the invention are that a multi-tined hook may be weighted in a simple manner and may be interchanged to conform to state laws while the weights may also be interchangeable in accordance with the preferences of the individual fisherman and the type and size of fish being snagged.
A further advantage of the invention is that the bight portions of the tines of the hook leading to the stem may be recessed in a metal weight and detachably locked thereto, with the weight extending in a direction opposite from the tines of the hook.
A still further advantage of the invention is that a multi-tined hook may be received and retained to a weight having recessed portions opening to the end of the weight facing the eye of the hook, and the recessed portions may be in the form of individual slots for each tine of the hook by a single axial drilling operation of the weight and a single transverse milling operation intersecting the drilled portion of the weight and forming three slots receiving a three-tined hook with the tines spaced approximately 120.degree. apart.
A still further advantage of the invention is that the hook may be recessed in the weight and detachably held thereto by a ring-like retaining means.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, although variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.